Knitting-machine.



W. STAFFORD & R. C. HOLT.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 27, 1916.

1 ,1 97,963 Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ATTORNEYS W. STAFFORD & R. C. HOLT.

KNITTlNG MACHINE.

1,199968 APPLICATIONFILED APR. 27, 19I6. patentedsept 12 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS W. STAFFORD R. C. HOLT.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR- 27., 1916- Patented bept. 12, 1916.

4 SHEE TSSHEET 3 x4 /0 l0 8 9 7 7 ,9 7 i 6 g 5 5 r 1 8 l4 3 u v 7 l3 a Q 73 Y N 13 /0 W &

ATTORNEYS W. STAFFURD &-. R. C. HOLT.

KNITTING MA CHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.

lawn-4mm. 13,1916.

4 SHEETS -$HEET 4 "\IVENTORS ale/C04 ATTORNEYS WALTER STAFFORD AND ROBERT HOLT, OF LITTLE FALLS, NEW YORK.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed April 27, 1916. Serial N 0. 94,034.

do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,

which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

Our present invention relates to improvements in knitting machines, and particu larly to circular knitting machines which are provided with vertically operating knitting needles.

It is the purpose of our invention to pro- Vide an improved knitting machine of the class described, and particularly to provide one equipped with additional cooperating mechanism whereby the plain knitted fabric has added thereto a fleecing thread projecting in loops upon one side of the fabric and another fleecing thread projecting in loops from the other side of the fabric.

A further purpose is to provide a machine of the class described and adapted to make fabric as above described so that one series of fleecing threads will project in loops from one side only of the fabric and another series of fleecing threads will project in loops from the other side only of the fabric.

A further purpose is to provide a machine of the type mentioned of such construction and combination of parts that the fleecing threads laid into the fabric will appear in a novel way and in such a manner as to render the loops of the said fleecing thread more firm and durable than usual. I

A still further purpose of our invention is to provide a machine of the class described and adapted to produce fabric as mentioned, wherein the machine is provided with improved means and combinations of means for performing the desired operations in improved, simple and eflicient ways.

Further purposes and objects of our invention will appear from the specification and claims herein.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through one side of a knitting machine embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. l with the vertical needles and horizontal inside and outside fingers shown on only two of the e ght sections of the machine. Fig. 3 is a v ew on a greatly enlarged scale of the back side of the fabric produced by our machine. Fig. 4 is a view on a similar scale of the front side of said fabric. Fig. 5 is a front view of the guide 56 for supplying inside the circle of needles the thread for the outside fleecing loops, together with adjacent parts of the machine. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 5. Fig. '7 is a front view on line 77 of Fig. 8, of the guide 76 for supplying outside the circle of needles the thread for the inner fleecing loops, together with the parts adjacent to said guide. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view on line 88 of Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawings in a more particular description, there will be seen the essential and well known parts of a common type of circular knitting machine, including suitable supports 20, an annular plate 21 carried thereby, having an upstanding flange 22 at its inner side, removable upward extensions 23 on said flange and usually for convenience constructed in sections, cams 24 arranged about the inner surface of said flange 22 and its extensions 23 and provided with the usual cam groove 25 opening inward to receive the heels 26 of vertically arranged and vertically moving latch needles 27, and a needle cylinder 28 having vertical slots 29 holding said needles 27 so that their heels 26 will ride in the cam groove 25 and give the needles the usual pulley 35 and a loose pulley 36 and the.

usual hand wheel 37.

The above-described construction is a common form of circular knitting machine such as is used to produce the basic web of the fabric shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and which basic web is the common plain knit fabric threads often called stocking net made by each needle knitting at each feed. The machine herein shown and described is what is commonly known as an eight-feed machine or a machine where the needles 2Tas they rotate with the cylinder 28 perforn'i a fullwales 6 on one side of the fabric (commonly and hereinafter for convenience and definitencss called the front side of the fabric) and these stitches are severally connected to their adjacent stitches in the same horizontal course by the said basic web thread 5 extending horizontally as connecting threads 7 which are located on the other side of the fabric (commonly and hereinafter called the back side of the fabric). The successive stitches of the basic fabric are formed in loops passing to the front of the fabric through the loop of the preceding stitch and extending upwardly as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings and there in turn receiv ing through its loop in a similar way the loop in a stitch in the next course of stitches. Between each two adjacent stitches in the same course and their two connecting 7 are left meshes 8 shown in the drawings inthe usual exaggerated form for the purpose of clearness.

About the outer edge of plate 21 and suitably secured thereto are upstanding posts 38, to which at about the level of the top of the cylinder 28 is fastened a strong annular ring -if) and the sectionally made cam holder 45. Below this cam holder is located the outside dial 40 which is caused to rotate in unison with the cylinder 28 as by being secured to a shoulder -'l1 projecting outwardly from the cylinder between the nee-' dles '27. In the upper surface of the outside dial 40 are provided radially arranged slots 42 wherein are mounted the outside fingers 43. These fingers have hooks 44 at their inner end or at theirend toward the cylinder formed by that end of the finger being turned down and then outward, forming a hook opening downwardly and outwardly as plainly indicated in Fig. 1. Immediately above the outside dial 40 is stationarily secured the cam holder 45, having inside and outside cam plates 46 and 44 respectively, leaving thcrebetween a cam groove 48, the shape of which is plainly'indicated in'dotted lines in Fig. 2. U pwardly extending heels +9 on the fingers 43 extend into said cam groove 18 and rotation of the outside dial 4.0 will in an obvious manner cause the fingers +3 to be thrust inward past the circle of needles 27 and then be withdrawn outwardly according as the cam groove 46 approaches or recedes from the said circle of needles. The slots 42 are of such number and so arranged that the fingers therein 43 will pass inward in the space between the adjacent needles 2? or between adjacent needles when the needles are raised. As is plainly suggested in Fig. 2, the path of the cam groove 48 for these hooked fingers 43 is divided into eight sections corresponding with the number of feeds upon th knitting mechanism proper of the machine. Four of these sections as from point 50 to 51 have the cam groove in a regular circle positioned as indicated to hold the hooked fingers 43 back from the needles 27. Each of these inactive sections is followed by an operating section as from point 51 to point During this operating course the ram groove 48 slants gradually inward as to point 52, then outward as to point 53, then without change of distance from center to point 53 then inward again as to point 5i and then outward again as to point 55, which is followed immediately by point 50 at the beginning of the next inactive section of the cams of said outside dial.

As the hooked fingers 43 pass inward along the cam path from points 51 to 52 the said hooked fingers are thrust inwardly between the adjacent upraised needles 2? until the parts come to the relative position shown in Fig. 1. It will be understood that at this time the needles 27 have about their shanks the last formed loops (3 of the basic fabric and that the preceding fabric extends inward from the circle of needles and in a downward slanting direction over the slanting top of the cylinder 28 and is drawn downward under proper tension in any desired manner (not shown). As the cylinder needles have thus been thrust upward and their loops drawn down on to their shanks the latches of said needles have been opened, leaving the needles ready to receive the basic thread 5 to be supplied at this feed and immediately thereafter do receive said thread. Meanwhile, the inwardly thrust hooked ends of the fingers 43 have caught the fleecing thread 9 supplied by suitable feed member 56 which conducts the said thread from a suitable source (not shown) to a point within the circle of cylinder needles to a point just below the inwardly thrust ends of the hooked fingers 4-3. Further rotation of the outside dial 40 moves the fingers 43 along the cam groove from point 52 to 53, bringing the fingers sharply outward, whereby the hooks 44 of said lingers engage said fleecing thread 9 and draw it into loops it) as the hooks of said fingers pass back between said upraised needles and to some distance therebeyond. The shanks "if said upraised needles act as posts for the drawing of said loops while their outward ends are engaged by the hooks of the fingers -While the hooked fingers a3 are passing along the cam groove from 53 to 53 and therefore holding the loops drawn outwardly, the cylinder needles pass downward and cast off the old loops of the basic fabric or form a new loop of the basic fabric through what has been heretofore called the needle end of these fleecing loops or through what should now be called the fabric end of said'fleecing loops. As the cam groove inclines inwardly from point 53 to 54: the hooked. fingers 4L3 are again moved inward and allow the free ends of these fleecing loops to become disengaged from the hooks let of said hooked fingers. Then the hooked fingers l3 are withdrawn to outer or inactive position, due to the course of the cam groove from point 54 to During these operations and the consequent inward and downward draw upon th fabric being knit the needle ends of these fleecing loops have been transferred to the wales formed by the stitches just knit and the ends of said loops which extended outward between the needles now being freed from the hooked fingers simply draw over the top of the cylinder and stay on the outside or front side of the fabric as plainly shown in the drawings and naturally tend to incline toward the top of the fabric as in dicated in Fig. 4, due to the downward course of the fabric along the inner surface of the cylinder 28.

Supported upon the upper ends of posts 38 is a spider frame 57 down through which hangs a shaft located centrally of the cylinder 28. Upon this shaft 58 is revolubly mounted the inner dial 59 having about its upper surface toward the edge a series of radially arranged slots (30, in which are slidingly mounted the inner fingers 61. These fingers have their outer ends formed with a hook (32 similar to the hooks 44. The inner dial 5!) is rotated at the same rate as the needle cylinder 28 and receives its power therefrom as by the usual inter-engaging arms or inter-engaging rollers on arms projecting respectively from the lower side of said dial and the inner surface of the cylinder which parts are not shown as they are common in the art. it being understood that said parts allow the knitted fabric to pass downward therebetween without interfering with the transmission of power or of the take-up of the knitted fabric.

The upwardly extending heels ()3 of the hooked fingers (ll ride in the cam groove (i-l left between the adjacent edges of inner and outer cam plates (35 and (56 respectively. These cams are secured to the lower face of sectional cam holders 67 suitably secured to a main cam holder 67 stationarily mounted upon the hanging shaft 58. The course of this inner dial cam groove (it as plainly indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, is also divided into eight substantially equal sections. Four of these sections as from points 68 to 69 are inactive sections, in that the cam groove is far enough in at all points so as to keep the inner hooked fingers 61 in retracted or inoperative position. The inner fingers 61 are also of such numbers and so arranged that when projected they extend between the upraised cylinder needles 27. These inactive sections of the inner'dial are located approximately opposite the active or operative sections of the outer dial. For this reason when the outer dial hooked fingers are going in past the needles and fornr ing the loops 10 as heretofore described the inner fingers opposite said operative outer fingers are not only within the circle of needles, but sufficiently inside said circle of needles as to be out of the way of the inwardly thrust ends of the outer fingers.

Following each inactive section of the inner dial cams is an operative section, ex-. tending as from point 70 to point '75. These active sections are accordingly approximately opposite the inoperative or inactive sections of the cams of the outside dial. The relative course of these active sections of the cams for the inside dial are as follows: from point 70 to 71 slanting outward, resulting in projecting the inner fingers to and through the upstanding needles; from point 71 to 72, drawing the fingers back; from point 72 to 73, holding said fingers back; from T3 to 74:, projecting said fingers somewhat outwardly again; and then from 74 to 75, withdrawing said fingers inward again. Point 75 at the end of one active course is the same as the beginning point 68 in the course of the next following inactive section.

As the needle cylinder revolves anti-clockwise as viewed from above, carrying therewith the needles and the fabric knit thereon, including the loops 10 formed on the outside of the fabric as hereinabove described by the outer hooked fingers operating at an active section of the cams over the outside dial 40, the vertical needles will next be brought to another feed to form another course of stitches of the basic fabric and at the same time will be brought opposite an active section of the. inner cam groove 64 over the inner dial 59. This course of stitches formed at this feed by the vertical needles is made by the usual up and down motion connnunicated in turn to each of the vertical needles as they pass through this section of the cylinder cams.

As the vertical needles 2? are moved up, the old loops thereon draw down upon the needles. At this point there is supplied to f he fabric,

needles, open the latches of said needles, ever, at no time passes in front of the wales passdown over the said latches, and are of the fabric, but behind as plainly indiheld upon the shanks of the needles close cated in Fig. 3, where it will be seen that to the top edge of the needle cylinder 28, the connecting portion 14 of this fleecing with the fabric already made extending, thread 12 which passes from one loop 13 to down over the slanting upper edge of said the next and so forms the means of holding cylinder and down closely along the inner the loops into the basic fabric is back of the face thereof as already mentioned. While wales of the basic fabric and is held into the needles 27 are thus raised above the level the basic fabric by assing in front of the of the inner hooked fingers 61, said fingers connecting threads of the basic web. It are thrust out by reason of the heels 63 of Will thus be seen that in a special sense these said fingers following the course of the back fleecing loops 13 not only have their inner cam groov fro to 71 until th free ends on the back of the fabric but have hooks 62- on the outer nds of said inn substantially the whole length of their anfingers are outsid th ir le of u r is d choring portions or fabric ends on the back in that these loops pass in these hooked fingers from feed plate 7 6 the front only of the connecting threads and not fleecing thread 12 which is to form the loops f the fabric bodily. The mechanism to 13 on th i n id o connecting th d read ly produce this result upon plain basic side of the fabric being d Thi fl fabric is especiallywaluable because in this i g thread 12 i s li d t th f d l t way a knitted fabr c may be produced hav- 67 from a convenient source (not h wn), mg a fleecing thread on one side of a differ- It is supplied to s id in r fi g t a oi t ent character of thread or even of a differoutside the circle of upra' sed needles and ent colored thread and said fleecing thread grasped by the hooks of said inner needl will not be visible from the front or wale so that as the said fingers are withdrawn Sl e f the fabric as actually produced. from between th uprai d sh k f th The further rotat on of the cylinder and needles a loop 13 of id fl e ing th d 12 inner and outer dials will successively knit is drawn back between each two adjacent allothe? Course Of 11 Web Stitches and upraised n dle as th fing pass along therewith another course of outer loops will the cam groove from 71 to 72. Said loops be formed as hereinbefore described and are held back as the fingers pass along th then at the next feed or section of the macain groove from point 72 to 73. As th se chine another course of basic fabric stitches loops 13 of th fi eo ing th d are th t will be formed and therewith another course porarily held drawn back from the circle of lnnel' fleeelhg loops ashereln descllhfid of needles, the needles, having received their and on lllltll the machlne co plet s l thr d f thi u e f lo f th b i rotationwl en another series of similar steps fabric, pass downward through the old basic I g h the usual y of Circular knitfabric" loops on the shanks of the needles and g milchlnesthrough the needle ends of the fleecing loops W111 h understood 0f B h Va- 13 so that the old basic web loops are cast nous {nodlficatlons fi Plunges y off over th upper ends of the needles and made 111 t fl l f Y t ii g th dl d f th fl i loops 13 from the spirit of thls invention, since it which were outside the needles are thrown W111 be pp h that a e pg thread e off with the needle end of the old basic web not have to be P I1 he filbrl loops over the upper end of th now d at each feed. Furthermore, it will be noted pressed needles. Then there is an outward that VaI'IQIIS m lons naybe made in movement of the inner fingers consequent the q n of parts 1n our machine, upon the fingers having their heels pass in resulting n a COIIBSPOlldlIlf modification th cam groov fro point 73 t 74 so of the fabric produced such, or instance, as

that these fingers move out toward the circle of needles and thereby disengage the hooks of said fingers from the loops 13 drawn inward by said fingers. As the finthat the inner and outer fleecing threads do not have to beput in alternately one after another, but might be changed by an obvious shifting of the cam sections congers travel along the cam groove from 74 to tIOlllHg the inner and OlltGI (litLlS S0 that 75 th are ithd i t i ti itwo coursesof outer fleec ng threads might tion ready to enter the inactive section of he P d 1 nt0 the fabric and then two the cain groove from point 68 to 69, hereto- Courses of nine! fieeolng threads or one fore mentioned. As the fleecing loops 13 course of one and two or more of the other. drawn by these inner fingers are drawn in h preferred form ofour machine such over the fabric and toward the back of the as shown In h drawings and 116mm fabric or the connecting thread side of the scribed in detail, for the reason that this fabric the free end of said loops is upon the arrangement produces a fabric having both back or connecting thread side of said fabof its faces well and evenly covered with ric. The fabric end of these loops 13, howfleecing loops.

.zontal arm 56?.

The feed member 56 for supplying inside the circle of needles the thread for the outside fleecing loops has its construction and arrangement shown in detailin Figs.

and 6 particularly. This feed member consists of a vertical part 56 and a hori- The member is arranged just outside the cam holder 67 for the inner dial and within the circle of needles 27. The upright part 56 comesdown in front of the cam holder 67* at a point where both the inner and. outer'hooked fingers are in inoperative position. The horizontally arranged arm 56 extends to the right as viewed in Fig. .5 andbelow the level of the hooked fingers a sufiicient distance so as to supply the fleecing thread 9 immediately below the outer hooked fingers which have been thrust inwardly immediately over the outer portion of said horizintal arm 56 at about the point 52 upon Fig. 2. Means are provided for holding this feedme'mber 56 in proper position with the desired nicety of adjustment, said means consisting of an elongated slot. 77 in the upper end of the vertical portion 56, into which slot fits with an upward and downward adjustment the outer end of a round bar.78, t'he inner end of which has a sliding adjustable fit in a hole in a, block 80 secured to theupper surface of, the inner camholder 67. A .set screw 81 through the block80 holds the rod 78 in proper position after it has been adjusted longitudinally of itself and ,upon

its axis affording the desired adjustment.

for the'feed member. Near the upper end of the vertical portion 56 of this feed mem-.

its lower end and then said thread. passes along the lower surface of the horizontal arm 56 through .'a' slot 84:, from which it passes upward to the hooks through a hole 85 near the outer-end of said arm. The construction and arrangementof the guide 76 for supplying outside the circle of needles the thread for the inner fleecing loops is shown in detail particularly in Figs. 7 and ,8: This guide or feed member 76 is likewise supported from the inner cam holder 67 by means of a similar block receiving in its aperture a rod 78 adjustably held by a set screw" 81, the outer end of which rod has an up and down adjustable fit into the slot 86 in the vertical portion 76 of the guide or feed member 76. The upright portion 76*. i held upon said rod by a headed screw. 87 having its head engaging said upright portion 'while the shankof said screw extends into the end of said rod 76. The uprightportion 7 6* of this feed member likewise at av point where both the inside and outside hooked fingers will always be at inoperative posltlon, but this upright portion 76 is upper end 'of the upright portion 76 down through an opening 89 near the left end of the'horizontal'arm 7 6?, from which hole the thread passes along. the bottom of said arm 76 in a downwardly opening slot 90 and thence upward through an opening 91 into the hooks of the inner hooked fingers.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1.;In a circular independent-needle knitting-machine, the. combination of a needlecylinder, ne'edles'carried thereby, two feeds therefor, means .for raising and lowering said needles to knit at each feed, -.a dial arranged within the circle of needles, fingers mounted thereon with hooks at their outer ends and adapted to be projected through said circle of needles, means at one feed for vprojecting said fingers out between theraised needles and drawing/them back whereby loops of fleecing thread are formed extending inward from said raised needles and are left on the back of the fabric, an annular dial arranged outside the circle of needles, fingers mounted thereon with hooks at their inner ends and adapted to be projected through said circle of needles and means atttheother feed for projecting said outer fingers in between the raised needles and drawing said fingers back whereby loops of another fieecing thread are formed extending outward from said raised needles and are left on the front of the fabric.

2. In a circular independent-needleknitting-machine, the combination of a needlecylinder, knitting. needles carried thereby, a plurality of feedstherefor, means for raising and lowering said needles to knit at each feed, a 'dial arranged within the circle of needles, fingers mounted thereon with hooks 'att'heir outer ends and adapted to be projected through said circle of needles, means located outside of the circle of needles 27 From the lower end of the upright at certain feeds for projecting said fingers out between the raised needles and drawing them backflwherebyloops of fleecing threads are formed extending inward from said raised needles and are 'left' on the back of the fabric, an annular dial arranged outside the circle of" needles, fingerszm'ounted thereon'with hooks at their inner ends and adapted to be projected through said circle of needles and means at other feeds for projecting said fingersin between the raised needles and drawing said fingers back whereby loops of other fleecing threads are formed extending outward from said raised needles and are left on the'front of the fabric.

3. In a circular independent-needle knitting-machine, the combination of. a needlecylinder, knitting needles carried thereby, a plurality of feeds therefor, means for raising and lowering'said needles to knit at each feed, a dial arranged within the circle of needles, fingers mountedthereon with hooks at their outer ends and adapted to'be projected through said circle of needles, means at alternate feeds for projecting said fingers out between the raised needles and drawing them back whereby loops of fleecing threads ting-machine, the combination of a needlecylinder, knitting needles carried thereby, a plurality of feeds therefor, means for raising and lowering said needles to knit at each feedwhereby a plain basic web is formed having its wales on the front side and its connecting .threads on theback side of said web, a dial arranged within the circle of needles, fingers mounted thereon with hooks at their outer ends and adapted to be projected through said circle of needles, means at certain feeds for projecting said fingers out between the raised needles and drawing said fingers back whereby loops of fleecing thread are formed extending inward from said raised needles and are held back of the fabric and means for casting the needle-ends of said fleecing thread loops off over the tops of the needles whereby the needle ends of said loops are held back of the wales and in front of the connecting threads of the fabric.

5. In a circular independent-needle knitting-machine, the combination of a needlecylinder, knitting needles carried thereby, a plurality of feeds therefor, means for raising and lowering said needles to knit at each feed whereby a plain basic web is formed having itswales on the front side "and its connecting threads on the back side of said web, a dial arranged within the circle of needles, fingers mounted thereon with hooks at their outer ends and adapted to be projected through said circle of needles, means at certain feeds for projecting said fingers out between the raised'needles and drawing said fingers back whereby loops of fleecing thread are formed extending inward from said raised needles and are held back of the fabric, means for casting the needle-ends of said fleecing thread loops off over the tops of the needles whereby the needle ends of said loops are held back of the wales and in front of the connecting threads of the fabric, an annular dial arranged outside the circle of needles, fingers mounted thereon with hooks at their inner ends and adapted to be projected through said circle of needles and means at other feeds for projecting said fingers in between the raised needles and drawing said fingers back whereby loops of other fleecing threads are formed extending outward from said raised needles and are left on thefront of the fabric with the needle ends of said loops back of the Wales of the fabric.

In witness whereof we have aflixed our signatures, this 29th day of February 1916.

WALTER STAFFORD. ROBERT C. HOLT. 

